Accidental Visitor to my HaveaHeart Trap!

hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CAApril 9, 2013

Well now. What a surprise I had when going out to snap some pics of my so-called 'Flat Wonderful' peento peach tree. My Aussie was VERY intently staring into my HaveAHeart trap, which was shut. So, I figured I had finally got this bunny that had slipped under my snake fencing. NOT. Take a look at what ended up in my trap:

So, let the little guy out. He was not in very good spirits. Pretty pissed off at the dog (which was safely in the house). Hope he sticks around, as one of the their main diet items? The Pocket Gopher. Yea.

Gorgeous, isn't it? It's a Long Tailed Weasel, and it will go after the ground squirrels, it will be exalted to absolute hero status in my book! They do go down in the ground squirrel tunnels, so maybe? I'll have to do more research on them to see. I did run into this little guy about 3 or 4 weeks ago. Let me tell you, they are unbelievably agile. I walked down to my walk & pick orchard and startled him (and me!) Very pretty animal, too.

I was on my way to a boat ramp when I noticed something dead on the road. It hadn't been there long and I stopped to look at what it might be. It was a gopher that musta got hit by a passing pickup/trailer. Anyway, I no longer stopped and saw some moving grass in the ditch by my boat trailer tire. Suddenly a weasel jumped out onto the road, sniffed the air, sniffed my tire then bounded down the road towards my cab all the while i'm watching it out of my open door. I tell my wife to have a look as this thing is coming at a wide open hopping like gait and stops right at the dead gopher, grabs the whole thing in it's jaws (which was twice the weasels size) and bounds back into the ditch grass with it's new found prize. Pretty cool to see. My wife was quite curious as to the critter as well.

Definitely a cool critter to have running around your place. Hopefully you're dog is not a ratter as the lil guy probably won't last long then.

It looks like it has the face of a Ferret.Interesting.
I have been planting some excess Blueberries on the property where I work.Plus this will be the second year we will have a raised bed garden.
A rabbit had been eating the Blueberries to the ground and going after some of the Winter crops.I didn't know quite what to do.I tried the stink spray and that helped a little until it was washed off.
I was ready to buy a pellet gun and wait for it.But about a week ago,coming to work,there was the rabbit on the property,dead and it's head was missing.
I'm not sure what killed it,but seeing that little guy in the cage had me thinking it may be something like him,but it's more likely he'd take more than the head,like in Mr.Pickle's story.
Oh well,I saved some money and no more rabbit for now. Brady

I have seen a ferret around here for a couple years. probably a pet gone stray. I'm from the Wolverine state! But I don't think we actually have any wolverines here! We do have coyotes, and foxes though.

Wow nice aussies, a champion too! Jesse is my 2nd aussie. I lost Max July 8th last year at 13 and 1/2 years old. What a great dog he was! I got him in 1998. Max and Jesse both come from a working line of Aussies. Max was not AKC but a Australian Shepherd Club registered dog. Jesse is AKC, momma and daddy still work the sheep. Jesse will be a Frisbee and agility dog when old enough. He is 6 months old now, in the other photo he was 2 months old. His formal name is Drew's Jesse Of Russell Isle.

Here's a photo of him with my daughter's pug. One of them just stole my bacon, and both are giving me the "I didn't do it!" look!

Photography is another hobby of mine. I took both photos. The first is a nice portrait, this one more a candid shot.

Well, ferrets are in the Weasel family, but more of a "cousin". You can definitely see the relation in the face, though. Lovely puppy, Drew. So hard to lose a great dog, sorry for your loss. Aussies are just the best breed ever. So smart, so kind hearted and so athletic. Right now, both boys are showing ASCA confirmation, and once CH's are finished there, we'll move over to AKC. Rudy is very agile, and may also do agility and we may try him on sheep as well. We'd like an all-around CH on him. As long as they love to do the showing, we show them. Cooper, my red tri is retired and living the good life (in my husband's lap as I type, in fact.) Hmm, Brady, a headless rabbit. Not sure what predator would just take the head, maybe a weasel. Usually a coyote has a rabbit chomped down in a few bites. A weasel often will bite the head off.

Yes Claire, nice looking dog, his head shape looks a lot like my old dog Max, my current Aussie has a less broad nose. Both are blue merles.
Also to keep on subject I was thinking of buying a cage, but my city would probably object. I was looking at Tomahawk brand as one model was suggested by Olpea.
I'm looking to remove red and grey squirrels.
Olpea mentions model 105, but model 106 is a little bigger, and can catch rabbits, which are also a problem here.

And yes Jesse keeps them away although he too, would love to chew my plants. He has eaten one blueberry bush down to one cane. I hope it makes it! Everything has chicken wire around it now.

" I was looking at Tomahawk brand as one model was suggested by Olpea."

Drew, I don't know which post you are referring to, but I still think Tomahawk is a far better trap than Havahart. I've owned 3 Havahart and the trip mechanism doesn't work near as good as Tomahawk. The simple brass sleeve on the Tomahawk trap makes it far superior.

I agree with Olpea, if I had known about the Tomahawk trap, I would have purchased that over the Haveahart trap. The trip mechanism is either not sensitive enough, or too sensitive if I try to adjust it. The rabbits can get in, eat the bait and still hop out. I imagine my little weasel was a bit more "rambunctious" and was able to trip the mechanism.

She (pretty sure it was a she, since it was rather petite, Long Tailed Weasels are usually bigger that I've seen, and females are 1/2 the size of males) was very wary of us, but did calm down once we pulled the dog off the cage and into the house, poor thing. But, let me tell you, they really hiss. And very loudly. Quite scary in fact. She calmed down and we carefully opened the trap. She scooted out carefully, and loped up my hill. Hope she sticks around. They are getting ready to head into mating season, so I hope she has a den close by. I've seen her in my yard 3 times, now. So, glad she's here. They are obligate carnivores - strictly meat eaters, but will occasionally eat grubs and earthworms. No fruit. So, that's pretty awesome. And, the DO eat ground squirrels, yea!!!! They will attack prey much larger than themselves, they are brave little critters. One of my neighbors keeps their little Long Tailed Weasel coming back to their yard by setting out a dish of cat food for it.

Just wondering what you set your traps with? I found the squirrel in my pear tree this week, scouting the crop no doubt. I've had a trap set for him with a walnut and peanut butter, but the only thing I caught was a cat. Now I have peanut butter and a carrot in it, hoping if there is a rabbit, I can get rid if it.

I picked up two more traps at tractor supply today. They had a sale, two for $25, one big for raccoons and the other the squirrel/rabbit size. They may not be as effective as the expensive one, but it has not caught a varmint either. Must be the bait.

Something pulled my newly planted raspberries right out of the ground this week and ate them right down to the root. Gurneys sent me two replacements for free. Nice! I put a little fence around both the raspberry and blueberry raised beds and set the trap near by. Nothing. I need help with bait!

The most distinguishing proof that you have a weasel is to find a dead rabbit with the head missing; I used to have rabbits in my garden in Guatemala, who lived in a hole in the back yard, until a local weasel discovered them and one by one I found them with the head missing.

Buffalo, I don't bother to trap ground squirrels. I must have 40 billion of them in the abandoned orange orchard behind me (okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.) For them, I use poison bait traps and I use non-pass through poison (will not poison an owl, hawk, snake, dog or now weasel that might eat the poisoned ground squirrel). I couldn't possibly trap enough of them. Plus, here in the state of California, both rabbits and ground squirrels are considered pests, so if you trap, you must "dispatch" permanently, you cannot release the varmint somewhere else. I do trap the rabbits, and just let them out in my front yard. They occasionally can slip under a few spots of my snake fencing, so I just try to re-shore up the snake fencing. I can't bear to kill the bunnies. Just me. However, I have absolutely zero issues with using my pellet gun or any other trap with squirrels. You're much better off if you want to trap squirrels, to use Kania traps. Just search our forum for info about the Kania trap and squirrels. For the rabbits I use lettuce and carrots.

And John, that was what I was reading about weasels! Guess they attack their prey with a swift bite to the back of the neck. They are vicious little things, very brave, and can kill prey much larger than themselves. Reminds me of a Wolverine only on a much smaller scale. Plus, they're very cute to watch. Very interesting animal. I don't ever remember seeing them growing up as a kid in rural Orange County, but guess they were there.

I think I mentioned it before, but I'm such a strong believer I'll mention it again. Acorns are the best bait for squirrels here.

Unlike peanut butter, acorns are part of their natural food source so squirrels are completely accustomed and familiar with the bait. Acorns are on the ground for about a month in the fall so the bait doesn't work then, but there is such an abundance of food no bait works at that time.

Right now I'm not using any of my Havahart traps, just the one Tomahawk under an oak tree in my yard. I've caught a ton of squirrels in it this spring. Two days ago I caught 3 in one day.

Since you probably don't have access to acorns right now, I would try some pecans (in the shell) without peanut butter, which I've also worked very well for me.

Is there any other food source close by that you are competing with? Walnuts on the ground?

Thanks, olpea, I bought the trap you recommended and not having acorns, I baited it with black walnuts and peanut butter. Black walnuts grow in the yard, so is a natural food for them. I think they have so many pears stored in the tree that they just are not very hungry.

I have not seen them out of their nests many times yet this year so far. Do you ever put the traps in the tree or catch them all on the ground? I did cut the top out of the pear tree and the limb from their oak tree that was their 'path' to the pear tree from the air. At least they have to be on the ground now.

I'll keep trying. In addition to the pear tree that is mature, I have many young fruit trees planted now and do not plan on sharing fruit with the squirrels this year if I can help it. :)
Carol

We have lots of squirrels because people from the city catch them and dump them out here.

I have two tall oak trees in my yard. I've had the best luck putting the traps right under the oak trees. I place an old rug/piece of carpet down (18"X24") and place the trap on that. The small rug really helps with weed control and makes the bait more visible.

Since you're having problems catching squirrels, I would ditch the peanut butter. I know some people on this forum have had success with it, but I never could get peanut butter to work very good. I've never tried walnuts.

I keep a bag of acorns in the freezer (so they stay fresh) and bait with that. I've had excellent results over the years with acorns. I've got enough in the bag I could share with you if you want.

If you want to pay for the shipping, I could fill one of those flat rate post office boxes full of acorns and send it to you. They have different sizes, so tell me the size box. You can contact me through Gardenweb email if you want. Gardenweb email works "so so", therefore if you contact me and I don't get back to you, let me know. It means the email didn't go through.

Acorns really work for me. The only problem I have is this time of year, Bluejays will sometimes go in the trap and eat the acorns. They don't like to go in the traps too much, but prefer to "reach" through the side to snag the acorns. I try to keep the acorns away from the side (instead putting them down the middle of the trap) so they can't reach through the side, and that helps.

A few weeks ago I was frustrated at the large amount of squirrels I was still catching this spring. Normally it slows down. I asked my wife in frustration, and somewhat rhetorically, "Where are all these squirrels coming from"?

I would guess you have never seen a wolverine; I have seen one twice during my annual backpack trips South of Lake Tahoe. To me the weasel looks a lot more like a ferret, which is in the same "family".
Personally I would welcome either into my neighborhood, as long as I don't have rabbits.

No, never had the opportunity to personally catch a glimpse of a wolverine (thank God!) They are pretty reclusive, but also very aggressive, so kind of a mixed blessing. They don't look at all like a weasel, but their courage reminds me of the little weasel. Not sure I'd want a wolverine in my neighborhood, but sure glad to have this little weasel and hopefully her future family :-)

Thanks for the ideas, Olpea. The carpet sounds like a good idea as the grass (and weeds) are growing real nice now. I've also been reading that peanuts an sunflower seeds are a possiblitiy. I'll try again this week with the two traps and bait that I have here and see if I can get something to work.

Thanks for the offer on the acorns. If this does not work, you will be hearing from me for some. Looks like I'm about two hours due south of you. Hopefully tonight will be our last freezing temps of the year. I have a new buffalo babe and some baby chicks just hatched out. It must be spring.

Thanks for using the safe trap. It's better than having the natural predators eat poisoned prey. I live where there isn't much wild land unless I drive 20-30 minutes and today I saw a gold colored eagle sitting on a fence near the parking lot of a lowes. He was watching for something to eat in a wild grassy strip where there used to be a strawberry field. What a beautiful bird. I hope your friend will stick around.

I only trap rabbits, kitty. I could not possibly trap all the squirrels. Plus, both rabbits and squirrels are considered "pests" here in California, and you're not allowed to trap and release them, or you'll be fined. I do release the rabbits, but just to my own front yard. The squirrels would be impossible - I would be trapping hundreds of them. I use poison bait stations with non-through kill bait, so I won't kill a hawk, owl, coyote, my own dog, or a weasel that might eat the poisoned squirrel or rat. The only downside of using non-through kill bait is there is NO antidote. So, you must make sure your dog or small children cannot get to the bait.

When I said I would welcome "either" into my neighborhood, I wasn't referring to the wolverine; but the weasel and the ferret. I definitely would not want a wolverine which has often been referred to as an American Tasmanian Devil.

Oh! I thought you were just being brave, John. I, on the other hand, ran like a little girl when I accidentally ran into my weasel down in my stone fruit garden about 4 weeks ago, lol! I wasn't quite sure what it was at the time, all I knew was it was running so blinkin' fast, I was sure it would have been able to run up my pant leg and back down before I had time to get out of the way, lol! Actually, we both scared each other, and were both trying to get out of each other's way. It was really pretty funny. Too bad no one was there to see it :-)